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Nationwide, more improvement seen

Posted: Wednesday, September 26, 2007

WASHINGTON - Elementary and middle schoolers posted solid gains in math and more modest improvements in reading in national test results released Tuesday.

The test scores landed in the midst of a raging debate in Congress over renewal of President Bush's signature No Child Left Behind education law, and provided ammunition for those who want to see it extended with minimal changes.

"If we hadn't seen progress today, I think it might have been the death knell for renewing the law," said Bruce Fuller, a professor of education and public policy at the University of California at Berkeley.

Bush welcomed the news, calling it proof that his policies are "producing positive results for students across the country."

The 2002 law requires schools to test students annually in math and reading. Schools that miss benchmarks face increasingly tough consequences, such as having to replace their curriculum, teachers or principals.

The national assessments, sometimes referred to as the nation's report card, provide the only uniform way to compare student progress in a variety of grades and subjects across the country. The tests were administered nationwide last winter.

Overall, math scores were up for fourth- and eighth-graders at every step on the achievement ladder:

Thirty-nine percent of fourth-graders were rated proficient or better in math, up from 36 percent two years ago, when the test was last given. Hitting the proficient mark is the goal, policymakers say.

Nearly a fifth of the fourth-graders tested still couldn't do basic-level work, such as subtracting a three-digit number from a four-digit one. But fewer students fell into that category than in 2005.

Among eighth-graders, 32 percent were proficient or better in math, up 2 percentage points from last time.

Seventy-one percent performed at the basic level or better, up from 69 percent two years ago.